This invention relates to a power-operated can crusher for crushing cans, and more particularly, to a can crusher for use in the home for crushing aluminum cans.
The present invention is directed to a can crusher that is intended to be purchased for use in a home for crushing cans made of aluminum such as the typical soft drink or beverage cans. With recycling of cans, there is a desire to crush cans to a small fraction of their uncrushed size for placing in recycling containers. Manually operated can crushers are available and require the operator to supply the force by pulling a lever to crush the can. Some power-operated can crushers are available in which a crusher ram is driven by an electric motor to crush a can within the can crusher. These power-operated can crushers crush the can within a crushing chamber access to which is by means of a door. In use, the door is opened and a can is inserted into the crushing chamber, and the door is closed. The ram is driven by the electric motor to crush the can and the door is again opened to remove the can. A safety interlock prevents operation of the crusher ram while the door is open to prevent crushing of human fingers by operation of the crushing ram.
In some instances, a steel can may be inserted into a conventional can crusher, and the crusher ram is operated without crushing the steel can. In such instances, the can is often jammed by the ram with a stalled motor drive forcing the ram tightly against the steel can, which may be partially compressed. One known can crusher requires a very difficult and time-consuming reverse movement of a drive train for the crusher ram in order to back off the ram to release the jammed steel can. It is not recommended that a screw driver or other instrument be used to pry the jammed can loose because the screw driver may puncture the can, and release any liquid therein.
The present invention is directed to providing a much faster and more convenient can crusher in which a plurality of cans can be loaded and fed sequentially into the can crusher through an uncovered opening. That is, the opening is not covered by a door that needs to be opened and closed for a single can crushing operation. This door opening and closing, and waiting until the previous can is crushed before inserting a second can renders the can crushing task tedious particularly where one wants to crush a plurality of cans with a minimum of effort. The present invention is also directed to providing an automatic discharge of crushed cans from a discharge opening without having to open a door for each crushed can, as in the above-described, conventional can crusher.
The present invention is also directed to meeting certain Underwriter Laboratories' safety criteria that specify restrictions with respect to the size of opening and relative length of path from the exterior of the can crusher to the crushing chamber so that human fingers may not be inserted through a can inlet or a can discharge opening and inserted into the crushing chamber. If the fingers can be placed in the crushing chamber, an operation of the can crusher, whether by an accidental start or as part of an ongoing can crushing sequence, results in fingers being crushed. The can crusher needs a fairly large inlet opening to receive a can; and a hand can be easily inserted therein. This can crusher which is for use in the home, cannot be so large as to provide a linear inlet chute longer than a arm. In order to be marketable, these can crushers cannot take a large amount of limited counter space in a kitchen or the like. Also, these can crushers should be of a size to be mounted on a wall in a kitchen or the like. Thus, in order for the can crusher to be commercially successful, it must be limited in size.
Thus, it is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved, power-operated can crusher for home usage.
Another object of the invention is to provide a can crusher in which cans are rolled from an open inlet to a crushing compartment, and then automatically crushed and discharged from the crushing compartment.